Pearl Reflections
by Jade Hunter
Summary: PreLorelai's Graduation Day. While browsing for his last gift for Lorelai, Christopher reflects.


****

Title: Pearl Reflections

****

Author: Jade Hunter

****

Disclaimer: _Gilmore Girls_ does not belong to me in any way.

****

A.N: As a big Christopher/Lorelai fan, I had to write this after reading the transcript for _Lorelai's Graduation Day_, because it was just inspiring, the way Chris knows Lor so well.

"talking"

__

thoughts

emphasis

###############################################################

He had remembered, even before Rory had reminded him, because it was Lorelai's graduation, and he remembered everything about her.

He knew that she would be nervous – excited, but nervous as hell – because he knew her.

The gift basket he had assembled was almost complete. Almost.

This would be the last addition to it, because even though he wanted to cheer her up and make her relax, he also wanted to express his feelings for her. Whatever they were. He wanted her to know he cared, and even though the gag gifts would say that, too, he also wanted to give her a nice gift.

So here he was, wandering in a jewelry store, completely clueless.

A saleswoman came up to the counter, a wide smile on her face, dressed in a neatly pressed blue suit complete with matching pumps, large diamond earrings adorned like trophies. 

He remembered this look, the look of someone trying to pull of class, because he had grown up in the true classy society. Besides, these people always overdid something. In this case, it was the diamonds, because real ladies preferred to wear pearls for most occasions, because pearls were elegant. Diamonds were considered somewhat gaudy, especially when they were large – there was no need to boast one's wealth if one truly had class.

Except cars, but cars were always the exception. And vacation spots.

"Do you require assistance?" she asked.

He noted that at stores like these, the salespeople always asked in an extremely polite way, not 'May I help you?' and never 'Can I help you?' because that was improper grammar. He suspected they had a class for people who worked in stores like this, for their training, to learn how to act and talk in ways that high-class 'snobs' understood.

He smiled, his Christopher smile, and the saleswoman's smile became more genuine, more that of a woman than that of a worker. 

Lorelai had always said that his smile was a killer smile, and he had always believed her because she was Lor and he was Chris – she never lied to him – even though he hadn't cared. He had never cared about the effects of his smile or looks or money on anyone except Lorelai, and she hadn't cared about the last one like most women did because she had been a Gilmore, like he had been a Hayden.

He thought about that in past tense, because Lorelai was not living the life of a Gilmore – though it was an admirable life she lived – and he was definitely not living the life of a Hayden. It was only a name now, no monetary value to back it up because they had both turned their backs on it.

Coming back to reality, he said, "Yes. I'm looking for a special gift."

"Of course. And for whom is this gift?" she wanted to know.

He wanted to know that, too. Well, he knew it was for Lorelai, but he couldn't say that to the saleswoman and expect her to understand his feelings, now, could he? He could barely understand his feelings when it came to Lorelai.

He racked his brain. He couldn't say it was for a girlfriend, because Lorelai wasn't his girlfriend – Sherry was, no matter the problems they were having now. He couldn't say it was for his ex-wife, because he and Lorelai had never gotten married.

His quick wit prevailed in the end.

"For the amazing mother of my equally amazing daughter," he said, and it was true.

The saleswoman's smile dimmed and little, became more detached, business-like. She wasn't interested in a 'taken' man.

"What would you like the gift to say?" she asked.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his slightly tousled hair. What did he want the gift to say?

"That I'm very proud of her, that she's the most amazing woman I've ever known," his mouth ran off without him, but he didn't mind that much because it was true.

The saleswoman nodded, "And what type of jewelry? Rings, earrings, necklaces…?"

"A necklace," he said, because thinking about giving Lorelai a ring – any ring – was too painful a reminder of the one ring he had never been able to give her, the rings they had never been able to exchange. And Lorelai had never liked earrings, except goofy ones, the ones that made her laugh and drove Emily and Richard crazy, which was the main reason she bought them.

The saleswoman led him to the display of necklaces. He viewed his choices, the many rocks, in silver and gold and platinum, uncaring about the price. He had a steady job, good pay, and though it didn't pay that much, he would afford this one luxury because it was for Lorelai.

He skipped the ruby ones, because red did nothing for her, she would complain, and she almost never wore red for events she truly cared about. Blue was more her color, because it brought out her eyes, but the sapphires on display were not the shade of her eyes, so he skipped them, too. There would be no second best for Lorelai, ever, not from him.

Dismissing the diamonds entirely – too boring, Lorelai had claimed, he settled on the pearls. Elegant, refined, for a lady. Though Lorelai had never come out, like all of her female classmates, in his eyes, she was still a lady, because only a lady could go through all that she had and still be so upbeat, so alive, so Lorelai.

There were many to choose from, almost too many; double, even triple stringed pearls, choker-style, as well. But some were not for Lorelai, he could tell by looking at them that they weren't her, so it narrowed down his options some.

After a while, he began to shift his feet, even as his gaze remained unwavering on the choices. He had never liked shopping for anything, had always gotten bored or tired of it. But this was for Lorelai, so he kept looking, searching for the right one.

He found it, the perfect one, he could tell by looking at it.

Pointing to it, he told the saleswoman that he would take it, and would pay by credit card. He handed one of his credit cards to her, and as he was every time he bought something with them, was a little proud that he had good credit now, especially when he recalled the time he had been trying to buy Rory that dictionary, especially when he remembered Lorelai's impressed expression when she realized he had straightened himself.

Even after all these years, all he ever wanted was to impress Lorelai. Whenever he saw her, thought of her, was like he was 15 again, meeting her for the first time and desperate to make her notice him, make her look at him with her electric blue eyes. And when she did look at him, he wanted to make her keep looking at him and only him.

The saleswoman gave him a pen and told him to sign on the dotted line; he did so, and she handed him his receipt. She didn't ask if he wanted the gift wrapped, because this was a classy store, with branches all over the world, and people who bought things here didn't need to wrap jewelry. It would be like wrapping an engagement ring, except he didn't want to think about that and Lorelai at the same time. 

Instead, she put the necklace in a velvet box, no decorations on it, and put that into one of the store bags, the bag itself classy as well, powder blue with the store logo on it, tiny, cute, something Lorelai would have loved. But he would throw the bag away as soon as he could, because if Sherry saw it, she might think he bought something for her, and he couldn't have that because this gift was for Lorelai.

"Thank you," the saleswoman said, and he echoed the sentiments absently, his teenage training kicking in.

Once in his car, he took the velvet box out of the bag.

He stared a the pearl necklace for a moment, hoping that Lorelai would like it, which was ridiculous because of course she would like it, it was pearl, it was jewelry. But he didn't want her to like it because it was that, he wanted her to like it because it was from him.

When he realized where his line of thought was headed, he pocketed the box.

He might have bought the expensive gift for Lorelai, he might have admitted some of his feelings in doing so, but he wasn't going to actually think it or say it, because that would be like damning himself.

Pearls were elegant, for women who were loved and respected.

Pearls were Lorelai.

#####################################################################

~Jade Hunter~


End file.
